Leslie Ward
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Sir Leslie Matthew Ward (born November 21, 1851 - May 15, 1922 ; pseudonym: Spy ) was a British caricaturist and painter.
Life and work
Ward was born in 1851 to the artist Edward Matthew Ward and his wife Henrietta Ward . His maternal great-grandfather was the painter James Ward .
Contrary to the wishes of his parents, who had planned the son for a career as an architect, Ward began working under the pseudonym Spy as a painter and draftsman for the popular British magazine Vanity Fair in 1873 . For them he produced more than a thousand caricatures and colored portraits of public figures, especially politicians, over a period of over forty years. Ward's pictures were hugely popular with Vanity Fair readers and eventually earned him the sizeable fee of £ 300 to £ 400 per drawing submitted. As an essential part of every issue of Vanity Fair, Ward's drawings soon gave the magazine its characteristic "face" due to their high stylistic and visual recognition value .
Famous people portrayed by Ward included Herbert Henry Asquith , Winston Churchill , Reginald McKenna, and George Bernard Shaw , among others . His work was recognized in an exhibition at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters .
Web links
- Leslie Ward at the National Portrait Gallery
- Works in the National Library of Australia
- Works in the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Ward, Leslie |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Ward, Sir Leslie Matthew (full name); Spy (pseudonym) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British cartoonist and painter |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 21, 1851 |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 15, 1922 |